Downingtown’s When Cars Ascend is one of a thousandy million bands that sounds like they spent the majority of their formative years expounding upon the genius Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. Thankfully of those thousandy million bands, this is one of the better ones.
While watching Br’er, I couldn’t decide if vocalist/songwriter/harmonium player Ben Scurr was a genius or had been spending way too much time within the confines of West Philly for his own good. After fully observing the set and letting it stew for a bit, I’m leaning towards the former. Br’er is not an easy band to like, and could at times only be described as startling; but, their music is full of Moments (yes, with a capital ‘m’) when all the dissonance and weirdness come together. Then, you finally see what the song’s all about, and it’s a beautiful, melancholy thing. Br’er is chamber music for schizophrenics.
It’s a little presumptive to make a proclamation like this after the release of only one LP, but I think Titus Andronicus might have been sent to us to save rock music. Never in my life have I heard a band cite so many obvious influences under the umbrella genre of rock, and yet sound completely unlike any of them. I heard 50’s pop, old school punk, shoegaze, and even a bit of Desaparecidos-era Conor Oberest with a little less bitch and a lot more attitude. This was all in the space of one song.
The live show was is just as captivating as the music itself. Frontman Patrick Stickles at one point was curled into the fetal position onstage, though it wasn’t clear whether from emotional or physical exhaustion – the way the man was howling lyrics like “Your life is over!” into the mic, it easily could have been either. There were three guitars and one extremely fuzzed-out bass onstage at all times, along with harmonica, keys, and plenty of fist pumping chants. No wonder the nine or so sweaty young men dance-moshing at the front felt compelled to hoist members or their pack (and at one point Stickles) nearly to the ceiling in a fit of joy. Titus Andronicus was raw, full of life, and turned the tiny space of the Barbary into a gleeful freak out zone for the entirety of their set. More music needs to sound like this.
While watching Br’er, I couldn’t decide if vocalist/songwriter/harmonium player Ben Scurr was a genius or had been spending way too much time within the confines of West Philly for his own good. After fully observing the set and letting it stew for a bit, I’m leaning towards the former. Br’er is not an easy band to like, and could at times only be described as startling; but, their music is full of Moments (yes, with a capital ‘m’) when all the dissonance and weirdness come together. Then, you finally see what the song’s all about, and it’s a beautiful, melancholy thing. Br’er is chamber music for schizophrenics.
It’s a little presumptive to make a proclamation like this after the release of only one LP, but I think Titus Andronicus might have been sent to us to save rock music. Never in my life have I heard a band cite so many obvious influences under the umbrella genre of rock, and yet sound completely unlike any of them. I heard 50’s pop, old school punk, shoegaze, and even a bit of Desaparecidos-era Conor Oberest with a little less bitch and a lot more attitude. This was all in the space of one song.
The live show was is just as captivating as the music itself. Frontman Patrick Stickles at one point was curled into the fetal position onstage, though it wasn’t clear whether from emotional or physical exhaustion – the way the man was howling lyrics like “Your life is over!” into the mic, it easily could have been either. There were three guitars and one extremely fuzzed-out bass onstage at all times, along with harmonica, keys, and plenty of fist pumping chants. No wonder the nine or so sweaty young men dance-moshing at the front felt compelled to hoist members or their pack (and at one point Stickles) nearly to the ceiling in a fit of joy. Titus Andronicus was raw, full of life, and turned the tiny space of the Barbary into a gleeful freak out zone for the entirety of their set. More music needs to sound like this.